US investment bank Goldman Sachs is to set up a $1bn (€676m) charitable fund in the latest step by a financial services group to expand its philanthropic activity, as the sums pledged to charity by banks and wealthy individuals continue to break records.

The Goldman fund, to be called Goldman Sachs Gives, is a donor-advised fund, a popular philanthropic structure that allows wealthy individuals to direct tax-free investments to charitable causes. It will allow the bank's staff to suggest organisations that will benefit.