It was difficult to predict what regulatory changes could come about as a result of Brexit, John Deane told Reuters by phone.

"... If things get bad, what we say is if it is more efficient and more appropriate for us to be based in Amsterdam, then we would," he said. "Our preferred structure is to stay exactly as we are, with our head office in Preston."

Preston, Northwest England-based Chesnara currently operates separate companies in the UK, Netherlands and Sweden, making it immune to any passporting concerns, Deane said.

The Brexit vote means UK financial services firms could lose "passporting" rights that allow companies to trade in Europe without the need for locally regulated entities.

But the company, which mainly buys life insurance funds closed to new customers, said its business and financial model would not be materially impacted by Brexit in the long term although raising funds in more nervous markets might be challenging.

Deane also said he did not "think for one second" that solvency rules would be discarded by British or Western European regulators.

European insurers are currently governed by solvency rules which dictate the amount of capital an EU insurer must hold to reduce the risk of insolvency. The lower the ratio, the greater the chances of a company defaulting on its obligations.

Chesnara also reported a fall in IFRS pretax profit to 0.2 million pounds in the six months ended June 30, from 30.4 million pounds a year earlier, hurt by lower interest rates and the absence of gains from its acquisition of Dutch company Waard Group last year.

Foreign exchange gains, however, helped Chesnara report a 1.4 percent rise in economic value to 459.9 million pounds and an improved solvency ratio of 148 percent.

The company also said it was examining acquisitions worth between 50 million pounds and 200 million pounds in the UK and Western Europe, with a short-term focus on Dutch markets.

Deane declined to comment on whether the company was in active deal talks.

Shares in Chesnara were up 3.1 percent at 334.95 pence at 0940 GMT on the London Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Carolyn Cohn