Musicians’ Underfunded Pension Proposes Sweeping Benefit Cuts

A musicians’ union facing $1.2 billion in unfunded pension liabilities has asked the Treasury Department to approve benefit cuts for nearly half of its participants.

The American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM-EPF), a financially strained retirement program covering approximately 51,000 members, announced Jan. 7 that it has asked the government for help with looming insolvency. AFM-EPF, which adopted its first financial rehabilitation plan nearly a decade ago, has watched its funding percentage drop nearly eight basis points—currently hovering just above 61%—since 2016.

The group applied for relief under the 2014 Multiemployer Pension Reform Act, petitioning ...