For the second year in a row, Los Angeles snags the number one spot in Schroders global cities index, which measures economic vibrancy for real estate investment activity. To find out more about what is driving the economic strength of Los Angeles and what the top spot says about Los Angeles real estate investment this year, we sat down with Hugo Machin, co-head of global real estate securities at Schroders, for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: What is driving the economic strength of Los Angeles?

Hugo Machin: Schroders' Global Cities Index is a five factor model and includes population, GDP, Medium Income, Retail Sales and University. The weightings are 80% current and 20% future growth. LA scores well on all factors given its scale and the fact that it has robust economic growth forecast. The model/ index is demand led – this means the factors are objective and all cities in the model are subject to the same factors i.e. an apples for apples comparison.