James D. Sinegal, chief executive of Issaquah, Wash.-based warehouse retailer Costco, is one one of the world’s best-performing CEOs, according to Brendan Wood International, a global intelligence-based advisory firm. The list was featured on Forbes.com.

Sinegal, who ranked 22nd, received a TopGun designation, which was awarded by Brendan Wood’s panel of shareholders consisting of 2,500 professional asset managers, representing over $40 trillion of investment capital. The firm monitors the confidence level of these investors and their advisors in CEOs of the 750 largest and most transactionally active companies in the world.

“James has the unusual combination of someone who is able to develop and execute a precise top-level strategy and, at the same time, has a real passion for store level execution,” noted the panel in its appraisal of Sinegal.

Other CEOs from the grocery industry who made the cut were Ian M. Cook of Colgate-Palmolive (No. 4), Alan G. Lafley of Procter & Gamble (No.14), and Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo (No. 17). Nooyi was the only woman on the list.

The criteria for selection include the CEO’s positioning and strategy, the depth of his or her management team, and the CEO’s accountability and communication with investors.