Who we are

Stirling is a former international rugby union player, known for his physicality and strong leadership. In a career spanning 15 years, Stirling earned 140 Super Rugby caps and 80 Wallaby test caps. He captained Australia from 2006-2010 and in 2012 was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to rugby.

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While still playing professionally, Stirling joined Citi Institutional Equities and then moved to NAB in various Wealth Management and Institutional roles. After 10 years of corporate life, Stirling transitioned into a boutique Advisory firm specialising in Alternate Investments (predominantly technology), servicing UHNW Advisors and Family Offices.

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In 2019, Stirling attended the Japan RWC, sparking his interest in combining his love of sport with his expertise in technology and financial services. He subsequently consulted to the 2031/2033 USA Rugby World Cup Bid, and founded XV Capital in 2020 with ex-teammate James Godfrey.

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Stirling sits on various private and not for profit Boards including XV Capital, Sportable Australia, GAINLINE Analytics, Cohesion Capital (Chairman) and The Rugby Club Foundation (Treasurer & Chair of the IC). He is a former Board member of the Melbourne Rebels, the Rugby Union Players Association and the US RWC Bid Partnership.

James represented Australian Schools, U21’s and Barbarians, before transitioning into the business of sport in 1997, joining Godfrey Pembroke as GM of athletesfirst.

Post MLC’s purchase of Godfrey Pembroke, James continued to work in wealth management with Invesco Asset Management, Apsley Recruitment and Godfrey Group (founded in 2004).

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From 2010, James has combined sport and financial services as a Director - SEQ Sports & Entertainment finance, Head of Sport - Newington College, GM - Foundation at NSW Rugby, CEO - Loyals Rugby, Consultant – 2031/2033 USA Rugby World Cup Bid and Founding Partner at XV Capital.

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He sits on various private and not for profit Boards including XV Capital (Chairman), intaneous, Cohesion Capital and NSW Positive Rugby Foundation. He is a former Board member of the Major League Rugby and the US RWC Bid Partnership.

Rob has worked in the Australasian sport and entertainment industry for more than 20 years. After practising law for a number of years he joined IMG as in-house legal counsel before moving to the ARU (now Rugby Australia) to head up player contracting and collective bargaining agreement administration. Rob then spent over 4 years with sports marketing agency Sport & Entertainment Limited (SEL), during which time he was responsible for talent management, commercial rights sales, account management and legal and business affairs.

After SEL, Rob joined the team at CSM Sport and Entertainment as Managing Director, Australia. At CSM Rob was privileged to represent a number of rights holder, event and brand clients, including Cricket Australia, Netball Australia, Supercars, Invictus Games2018 Sydney, Jeep, Hisense, HSBC, Specsavers and Legacy NSW. In a career with many highlights, Rob is particularly proud of his work with Netball NSW in establishing Giants Netball and helping to drive their off-court success and the positive impact they have had on netball across the State.

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Most recently, Rob has conducted an independent review of the funding and delivery of community sport in Auckland, New Zealand, run two Manu Samoa rugby matches, including a RWC 2023 qualifier versus Tonga, consulted to XV Capital Advisory, performed a strategy and governance refresh for GainLine Analytics and assisted New Zealand’s five Super Rugby clubs form a commercial collaboration arrangement.

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Along the way Rob has also been involved with sports marketing, talent management and event businesses SponsorCom (GroupM), Esportif and SuperFoiler GP and was privileged to spend more than three years on the boards of each of Surfing NSW and SportNSW.

Marnie has extensive experience in the financial services industry having held a number of senior roles within the Westpac and St.George Wealth Businesses. Most recently, Marnie led BT's investment research, governance, data insights and disclosure functions with responsibility for oversight and monitoring of a $150 billion portfolio of investments across a broad range of asset classes.

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Prior to this, Marnie worked for JPMorgan Private Bank in London in their Manager of Managers division, catering specifically for Ultra High Net Worth Clients within the EMEA region.

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Marnie is a Director, founding member and current Chair of FICAP, a charity formed in 2006 by the financial services community in Sydney.

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A keen rugby union supporter and player welfare advocate, Marnie is actively involved in grassroots rugby, and was previously a Sydney Chapter Ambassador for the Queensland Brain Institute’s concussion research program.