I think I made a mistake where I tried to test loading the reference object in the simulator. I didn't realize even loading the objects fails on the simulator. It resolved when I used it on device.

Like I mentioned in my post, using Group causes another error. It assumes that I wanted to start the app in Immersive Space even though we start with a window and will result in an crash.

@Todd2 , did you find an answer to this question? I'm trying to import from Maya and every time I google, I get results for AR Face Tracking.