If approved by the local regulator, two funds would be offered by the end of the year, M&G said in a statement on its website.

M&G Finance Director Grant Speirs said the move was prudent in light of Britain's June 23 referendum on EU membership, given uncertainty about its right to use a financial "passport" to sell to European clients after Britain leaves.

"A Luxembourg... platform will enable us to offer fund strategies to European retail investors if the UK loses financial services passporting rights in several years' time as a result of its exit from the EU," he said.

M&G -- which said in June it was putting in place legal structures in Ireland and Luxembourg -- said it would subsequently offer European Union-regulated UCITS funds domiciled in Britain, Ireland and Luxembourg.

(Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Louise Heavens)