transfer of defined benefit plan assets to defined contribution plan

[Guest JBeck]

The regs under 411(d)(6) state that it would be a 411(d)(6) protected benefit violation if a participant's benefit under a defined benefit plan was transferred to a defined contribution plan at a time when the participant's benefit was not distributable and the defined benefit feature was eliminated.

The regs appear to imply that if a particpiant's benefit under a defined benefit plan was transferred to a defined contribution plan at a time when such benefit was not distributable but the defined benefit feature was preserved, this would be O.K. Does anyone have any practical experience in preserving a defined benefit feature in a defined contribution plan? How would this be done?